Presented By

Panelists: 
Jane Jones, Vice-President, Provident Travel
A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Jane began her travel industry career in 1977 with a commuter airline service out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.  After moving to Cincinnati in 1984 she continued her career path in travel management and sales including Leisure, Corporate and Group Travel.

In her current role as Vice President of Provident Travel’s three locations, two in Cincinnati and one in Roanoke VA, Jane leads a team of 53 Leisure Travel Advisors, Group & Incentive Sales and Independent Contractors.

Jane likes to say she has the best of both worlds. Not only does she have the privilege to have traveled to so many wonderful parts of the world, but also to work alongside her first-in-class Travel Advisors as they create clients’ travel dreams and lifetime memories.

Robert F. Louis, Director of Sales & Marketing, Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza
Bob is the Director of Sales & Marketing at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, a AAA Four Diamond hotel with 561 guest rooms and over 42,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event space.  He has over 30 years of sales experience, most of it in the Hospitality industry at hotels ranging from Select Service and Boutique to full-service convention properties.  Bob spent his childhood in South East Asia and moved to Cincinnati to complete his education at Xavier University where he received a degree in Business Management and Marketing.  He is married, has six children and resides in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky.

Julie Kirkpatrick, President & CEO, meet NKY
Julie Kirkpatrick is the President & CEO of meetNKY | Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau. meetNKY drives quality of life and economic growth for Northern Kentucky through tourism marketing and destination development. Julie works collaboratively with partners in Cincinnati and the Commonwealth of Kentucky on positioning Northern Kentucky as an important part of a regional visit. Julie built one of the first tourism development projects in Northern Kentucky, The B-Line, a bourbon focused experience positioning Northern Kentucky as the Edge of Bourbon Country.

Julie grew up in Lexington, KY and is a Certified Tourism Ambassador for the Cincinnati region, an Executive Bourbon Steward and a Certified Destination Management Executive.

Julie is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and Northern Kentucky University and is also an Adjunct Professor for Cincinnati State’s Culinary and Hospitality Sciences program. She sits on many boards through the Northern Kentucky region and Commonwealth of Kentucky including the boards for the Cincinnati Music Festival, Film Cincinnati, the Dan Lincoln Cincinnati Hospitality Institute, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Kentucky Tourism Industry Association and is a past President of the Kentucky Chapter of Meeting Professionals International.

LOCATION: Pavilion